Royal experts predict that Harry and Meghan will become even less popular in the United States under Donald Trump’s presidency, as their residency faces uncertainty on the day of his inauguration.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House will be a ‘day of fear’ for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, it was claimed today.

According to experts who spoke to MailOnline, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be closely following events in Washington DC this afternoon with a mix of intense interest and trepidation.

Details of the Duke of Sussex’s visa application was kept secret by the Biden administration – but Mr Trump is under pressure to perform a U-turn.

Their broader political strategies, which the Duke will elaborate on as a ‘revolution of common sense’ during his upcoming speech, have the potential to negatively impact the Sussexes and their various charitable and business endeavors.

Harry and Meghan find themselves in the midst of turmoil due to a series of explosive allegations leveled against them in a damning Vanity Fair article titled ‘American Hustle’. The article critiques their conduct during the five years they have resided in the United States, leading to significant distress for the couple.

But royal expert and investigative journalist Tom Bower told MailOnline that Donald Trump will be at the front of their minds today, especially as he has promised not to give Harry ‘special treatment’ and said he is ‘no fan’ of his wife’.

While Greg Swenson, a London-based financier and Chairman of Republicans Overseas UK who is in Washington for Mr Trump’s inauguration, said that the president’s return to power could send the Sussexes into meltdown.

But added: ‘They have [already] self destructed’.

Mr Bower believes that Trump’s America could make Harry and Meghan more unpopular than ever – and the President coming down hard on them in public could further improve his personal ratings.

‘This must be a day of fear. Trump has in the past said that he won’t “protect” Harry if he becomes president. Firstly, because he accused Harry of having “betrayed the Queen” which he condemned as “unforgiveable”, “very disrespectful” and responsible for “breaking her heart”.

‘But worse for Harry, Trump told Nigel Farage last year that if the Duke had lied in his application for an American visa about taking drugs, he could be deported from America. Harry must be worried because Trump warned that the prince should not receive “special privileges”. Harry admitted taking Class A drugs in Spare.

‘Until now, Harry was protected by the Biden administration which prevented a US court releasing Harry’s 2020 visa application. But Trump has threatened to remove that ban and worse, suggested that he might ‘have to take appropriate action’ if Harry did lie [on his visa application about drugs].

‘Trump has every reason to dislike his wife Meghan for having said disparaging comments about him in 2018.

‘Harry has good reason to fear that Trump may want revenge, not least to punish the prince for undermining the Royal Family who the new president revers, especially after recently meeting William in Paris. Vanity Fair’s critical article about the Sussexes has compounded their predicament.

‘Their poll ratings have fallen further so any punitive action Trump took could boost the new president’s ratings’.

Trump’s wider political plans – dubbed a common sense revolution could also hurt the Sussexes.

The Republican politician’s administration has said it will go to war on diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI] programmes, so much so companies are pre-empting it.

Mark Zuckerberg has scrapped various DEI programmes, including pulling out Tampon machines from men’s toilets at Meta HQ. Motorola, Harley-Davidson, Ford and Molson Coors brewers are now junking DEI.

And Walmart has stopped funding its Centre for Racial Equity, started in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.

DEI has been a target of Republicans who claim prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion over merit and ability is wrong, and Trump himself has said its on the chopping block from day one.

A common criticism of royals such as Meghan and Harry is that being a royal brings power and wealth purely from birth, or marriage.

The Sussexes went to America because they wanted to be released from royal duties and to build their own wealth.

But they have been slammed repeatedly as they use their royal links to generate cash.

One of Harry’s main commercial roles is with counselling and life coach business BetterUp.

BetterUp makes millions from selling its services to major companies who could cut back on this spending.

Prince Harry and Meghan have vowed to remain politically neutral in public.

And the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s charity the Archewell Foundation prides itself on being non-partisan supporters of good causes in America and around the world.

But while their decision to enter a $250,000 partnership with US President Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley to support traumatised women has won plaudits, it has also raised eyebrows, especially after the recent row over Harry’s US visa application and claims about his wife’s own political ambitions.

The Archewell Foundation is a founding partner at a wellness hub for women impacted by trauma which pioneers a radical new type of therapy that Ashley Biden credits with helping her process her brother Beau’s death at the age of just 46 in 2015.

Ashley Biden, 43, is a social worker whose passion is helping women released from prison, and according to tax documents Harry and Meghan’s charity gave her project $250,000 a year or more ago.

It is yet another sign that the Sussexes have become close to the Bidens, who have been highly supportive of the Invictus Games, which celebrated its ten-year anniversary this year.

Harry has also had the headache of a legal battle over his visa application in recent months.

He moved to Montecito with Meghan Markle and Archie in 2020 but his 2023 memoir Spare reveals he took cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms as a younger man.

Visa applicants must by law declare whether they have taken drugs – and if the lied on their forms they could be deported.

But the Biden administration is said to have helped support him by refusing to release the Duke’s application in a claim brought by a conservative think tank in New York earlier this year.

Conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation had sued the Department of Homeland Security, demanding that the American public must know if Harry disclosed his drug use on his visa application – but lost.

After the Heritage Foundation tried to overturn the decision, lawyers for the Biden administration responded by doubling down on its defence of the handling of Harry’s move to the US in 2020.

Donald Trump could, however, intervene to have it released when he takes office in today. He has already said he is ‘no fan’ of Meghan.

Harry and Meghan stayed quiet before the 2024 election, with some saying that not upsetting Mr Trump was a priority given the row over his immigration status.

But in 2020 they appeared to back Joe Biden when they made a video urging Americans to go out and vote to ‘reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity’.

Meghan herself has long been rumoured to have political ambitions – but these have not yet materialised.

Ms Markle is said to have approached California Governor Gavin Newsom about whether he would support her replacing Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died last September.

But another candidate was chosen.

In 2020 the couple did not endorse a candidate but urged Americans to vote in the ‘most important election of our lifetime’ and’reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity’.

Meghan even cold-called Americans urging them to vote

This was interpreted by many as backing Joe Biden, including by Mr Trump, who said he was ‘no fan’ of the former Suits star and Harry luck ‘because he’s going to need it’.

 

 

Mr Trump has lambasted the Duke of Sussex since he left Britain in 2020, criticising him for the ‘unforgiveable betrayal’ of his grandmother Elizabeth II.

He also suggested last March that Harry – who lives in Montecito, California – could be deported from the US if his drug use was not declared on his visa application. 

The Heritage Foundation think-tank has been trying to reopen its case to get Harry’s secret visa application made public after he admitted taking drugs in his memoir.

But a US judge ruled last September that it should remain private.

Back in September 2020, soon after Harry and his wife Meghan Markle had moved to the US, the couple urged American voters to ‘reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity’ in that year’s election which was eventually won by Joe Biden.

While the Sussexes did not endorse a candidate, the wording of their video message prompted accusations that they were referring to Mr Trump and had therefore breached UK protocol keeping members of the Royal Family political neutrality.

 

Meanwhile in the UK, it has emerged that senior members of the Royal Family could go on a US tour next year to help Britain improve relations with Donald Trump, government sources have claimed.

Downing Street is said to believe a royal visit to America would help ‘reinforce the special relationship’ after the incoming president met Prince William last month.

Despite Mr Trump’s prior criticism of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, he has also spoken positively about King Charles III and had huge respect for Queen Elizabeth II.

No offer has yet been made given talks are at an early stage, but a tour could happen in 2026 to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

After of Mr Trump’s second inauguration today, a senior UK government source told The Times: ‘Donald Trump has a clear affinity for the Royal Family. He had a great relationship with the late Queen, recently met Prince William and has spoken highly of King Charles. A royal tour to the US would help reinforce the ‘special relationship’.’

A second added: ‘Playing up to his pro-monarchist tendencies is one of a number of important ways we can exert our soft power. You saw that during his first administration and can expect to see it again.’

Events to mark the ‘Semiquincentennial’ in the US will begin on Memorial Day this May then culminate in celebrations on Independence Day on July 4, 2026.

Mr Trump has already spoken of his plans to invite world leaders to events – and it comes after Queen Elizabeth II visited the US in 1976 for the 200th anniversary.

It also comes ahead of the US hosting the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada, meaning William could attend events linked to his role as Football Association patron.

Meanwhile Mr Trump could become the first elected leader to receive two state visits by the UK, with discussions having also been held about this in future.

The precedent for second-term US presidents who have already made a state visit is normally tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama, but this could now change.

Mr Trump has met the King previously – including when he hosted a dinner for Charles and Camilla in June 2019 at the US ambassador’s residence during his last state visit when he was hosted by the late Queen.

Foreign monarchs, presidents or prime ministers are invited to visit the King on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, so any decision on another state visit ultimately lies with the Government.

The new president recently met William on December 7, 2024 at the ceremonial reopening of Notre Dame cathedral following the devastating fire in 2019.

Mr Trump later revealed William told him Charles ‘is fighting very hard’ as his cancer treatment continues – while the Princess of Wales is ‘doing well’.

He also told how they had a ‘great chat’ in Paris for ‘a little more than half an hour’ and described the bearded prince as looking ‘very handsome’.

They spoke at the British ambassador’s residence, and Mr Trump gestured to the prince and said: ‘Good man, this one.’

Kensington Palace said at the time that during their 40-minute meeting, the pair discussed a range of global issues but focused on the importance of the relationship between the UK and the US, with the president-elect sharing fond memories of the late Queen.

The prince last met the 78-year-old in 2019 when the then-president made a state visit to the UK.

Mr Trump did not mention any discussion about William’s estranged brother Harry, having previously warned he would get no special privileges in America.

The Heritage Foundation think-tank has been trying to reopen its case to get Harry’s secret visa application made public after he admitted taking drugs in his memoir.

But a US judge ruled last September that it should remain private.

Back in September 2020, soon after Harry and his wife Meghan Markle had moved to the US, the couple urged American voters to ‘reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity’ in that year’s election which was eventually won by Joe Biden.

While the Sussexes did not endorse a candidate, the wording of their video message prompted accusations that they were referring to Mr Trump and had therefore breached UK protocol keeping members of the Royal Family political neutrality.

Mr Trump is well known for his love of the monarchy – previously boasting that he had ‘automatic chemistry’ with the late Queen, and has hailed Charles as a ‘really wonderful guy’.

The last outward state visit to the US by a British monarch was 18 years ago when Elizabeth II was hosted by George W Bush in 2007 – and Mr Trump has often spoken of his bond with her.

‘I really got to know her because I sat with her many times and we had automatic chemistry, you will understand that feeling,’ he said.

But author Craig Brown, in his biography A Voyage Around The Queen, later claimed that the monarch found Mr Trump ‘very rude’.

She is said to have ‘particularly disliked’ the way he ‘couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder, as though in search of others more interesting’.

In 2018, Mr Trump joined the Queen for tea at Windsor Castle.

As they inspected a Guard of Honour, the president walked along before standing still in front of the Queen, meaning she had to navigate her way around him so they could walk side by side.

He later said of the sovereign in an interview: ‘That is a beautiful woman.’

At the state visit a year later, he was treated to a full programme of pomp and pageantry, with a ceremonial welcome and a glittering ballroom banquet at Buckingham Palace.

Charles inspected a Guard of Honour with Mr Trump on the lawns of the royal residence, dined with him at the banquet and had tea with him, Mrs Trump and the then-Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House.

Mr Trump, who is known for his extreme hand-holding, appeared to deliver a fist bump to Elizabeth II in the Palace gardens, but it was more likely an unusual clench of her hand.

He tweeted the London trip had been a success, adding: ‘The Queen and the entire Royal family have been fantastic.’

Mr Trump and the King, as the Prince of Wales, have met several times, although not since Charles acceded to the throne in 2022, with Mr Trump’s first term as American leader ending in 2021. But they appear to be on friendly terms.

Incoming-First Lady Melania Trump wrote in her recent memoir that she and her husband have an ongoing correspondence with the monarch.

‘Our friendship with the royal family continues and we exchange letters with King Charles to this day,’ she said.

Mr Trump has admitted, however, that the King is ‘a little bit more into environmental restriction than I am’.

In fact, while Charles has warned climate change is ‘the wolf at the door’, Mr Trump brands it a ‘Chinese hoax’ and ‘bull***t’.

But Mr Trump maintained he ‘totally listened’ to the then-prince when he was pressed on climate change by Charles during his 2019 visit.

The King wrote privately to Mr Trump after he survived an assassination attempt, condemning the violence and wishing him a quick recovery.

And Mr Trump spoke of how he hoped the King was ‘going to be OK’ following his cancer diagnosis this year.

He has, however, been publicly critical of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who live in the US with their children.

Mr Trump warned Harry he could face consequences if he lied about taking drugs on his US visa application.

This came after Harry’s references to taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in his memoir Spare, which prompted the Heritage Foundation to question why he was allowed into America in 2020.

Mr Trump told Nigel Farage on GB News in March: ‘We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action.’

Mr Farage asked: ‘Appropriate action? Which might mean … not staying in America?’

Mr Trump replied: ‘Oh I don’t know. You’ll have to tell me. You just have to tell me. You would have thought they would have known this a long time ago.’

The Heritage Foundation brought a lawsuit against the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) over access to Harry’s immigration records after a Freedom of Information Act request was rejected.

But in September a US judge ruled Harry’s visa application should remain private despite him admitting taking drugs in his autobiography.

Mr Trump also lambasted Harry and Meghan, accusing them of treating the late Queen ‘very disrespectfully’.

‘She was unbelievable. And I thought she was treated very disrespectfully by them,’ he said.

‘She, I would say, although she wouldn’t show it because she was strong and smart, but I would imagine they broke her heart.’

According to Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, Harry once urged Mr Markle to give Mr Trump a chance.

Mr Markle shared details of their private conversation in an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

He said: ‘Our conversation was, I was complaining about not liking Donald Trump, he said: ‘Give Donald Trump a chance’. I sort of disagreed with that.’

Meghan was a vocal critic of former reality star Mr Trump, backing his rival, Hillary Clinton in 2016, and suggesting then that she would leave the US if he won.

She previously labelled him ‘divisive’ and a ‘misogynist’.

Mr Trump meanwhile once said he would have slept with Diana, Princess of Wales, without hesitation.

In a Howard Stern radio interview recorded just months after the princess died, he also branded her ‘beautiful’ but ‘crazy’.

Mr Trump used to bombard Diana – the mother of Harry and the now-Prince of Wales William – at Kensington Palace with massive bouquets, according to broadcaster Selina Scott, who said he saw the princess as ‘the ultimate trophy wife’.

She added that Mr Trump gave Diana the creeps: ‘It had begun to feel as if Trump was stalking her.’

MailOnline has contacted Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace for comment on the possibility of a royal visit to the US.